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divorce definition - legal

n

v

  1. The termination of a marriage by court order; the state of having terminated a marriage.
  2. To terminate a marriage to someone by obtaining a court order, usually referred to as a divorce decree. 
divisible divorce
A proceeding in which the marriage is terminated but other issues pertaining to alimony, distribution of assets, or custody of children are reserved for another proceeding in another jurisdiction or under the laws of another state. Also known as a limited divorce.
divorce a mensa et thoro. (Archaic.

Latin

Latin.) Divorce from bed and board. A proceeding, current in Britain until the nineteenth century, that resulted in the parties remaining married but living separately. The term is still used in a few jurisdictions. 
divorce a vinculo matrimonii. (Latin.)
Common law, meaning, from the bonds of marriage; a form of divorce based on grounds that preexisted the marriage, which resulted in a legal fiction that the marriage never existed (with the result that any children of the marriage are then considered illegitimate).
mail-order divorce
A divorce received through the mail or otherwise without the presence of the parties in the court granting it. Not recognized in the United States because of the lack of personal jurisdiction.
migratory divorce
A divorce obtain-ed by a spouse who moves or travels to another jurisdiction to obtain it.
no-fault divorce
A divorce granted at the partiesÂ’ request without any adjudication of wrongdoing (such as abandonment, infidelity, or mental cruelty).

Webster's New World Law Dictionary Copyright © 2006 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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